San Francisco SantaCon

SantaCon 2011 in the books.

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The Santas were a bit naughty Saturday as they blocked traffic near Sutter and Post.

You know its the holiday season when you start seeing hundreds of drunken Santas invade Union Square.

That's what happened this weekend in San Francisco as SantaCon 2011 became a reality. SantaCon organizers say the goal is both spontaneity and creativity.

There is a bit of naughty mixed in with the nice as scantly clad Santas sing inappropriate Christmas carols while they hand out gifts to strangers in need.

It's a social media organized event. People learn about the meeting spot a couple days out and then Tweet their way through the City in random flash-mobs and bar hops.

SF Santa Con 2011

SantaCon is a national event that got its start in San Francisco at the end of the 20th Century (in the mid-1990s).

In all there were 226 SantaCon events held in 32 countries. Most big cities across the country have adopted the day long event with SantaCon days happening in LA, New York, Chicago and Dallas.

It involves people dressing up in costume for a day long pub crawl. There isn't an official participant count and usually involves several hundred folks. Some estimates of this year's party in the City has the number in the thousands.

Here's a YouTube clip with some still photos of the day. It was posted by costa44sf.